ASK MAULANA

Your Questions Answered

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan in a Panel Discussion on Unity in Diversity at India International Centre, Delhi in March, 2014.

Do you agree with the understanding that Ultimate Reality, whatever it is called, has to be One and that It is ineffable, that It is too great to be described in words?

 

According to Islam Ultimate Reality is another name for God. The Islamic concept of God is based on tawhid, or the oneness of God and He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of everything.

Islam stresses duality—there is a Creator and His creatures. Reality is not only a matter of belief but also conviction. It is necessary to express that conviction in words else it is neither recognized nor understood. Reality or God can be expressed in words.

I don’t wish to question the intent of proselytisation that seeks to bring others into one’s religious fold. But is it possible for followers of a tradition that believes in proselytisation to truly respect religious diversity? Are they not bound to treat religious diversity as a provisional state of affairs and cherish the hope that this state of affairs will eventually be overcome when the gap between the self and the other will be bridged via religious conversion?

According to my study, conversion is alien to Islam. The Islamic concept is based on marifat, which means self-realization. According to Islam, the reality of God is a matter of self-realization.

The word ‘conversion’, indicates that there are two persons— the person who converts and the other, the person who engages in trying to make others convert, from one religion to another.

This concept is not present in Islam. Islam teaches that everyone must try to discover Reality on their own, because without discovery and self-realization, there is no conviction. Conviction is very important in Islam. 

On the question of religious diversity, I would say that dealing with religious diversity is not a matter of religious belief. Rather, it is a matter of social ethics. Belief is a personal matter, while religious diversity is a social subject. It poses the issue of how to live in a religiously diverse society and a diverse world.

It is a fact that there are differences in every aspect of life. These differences are due to the law of nature and cannot be eliminated. It is unrealistic during dialogue to try to establish one’s superiority. The purpose of dialogue is to find how different sections of society can co-exist peacefully. Diversity in society can never be eliminated. So, bringing an end to diversity can never be the goal of dialogue. Its goal is peaceful co-existence.

If so, what is the truth? It is subject of personal pursuit, and not of social discussion or social gatherings. It is everyone’s problem to find the truth in which they can believe, because a person cannot live without conviction.

This issue has two aspects. One aspect relates to the individual. Each individual must attempt to live by conviction and recognize the truth. The other aspect is to maintain social harmony. Experience shows that social harmony is achieved only by adopting the formula of coexistence. There is no other option.

Each is free to adopt a religious belief by choice, but being members of society, we must learn to live peacefully with people who hold other religious beliefs. Believing strongly in a particular religion, being firmly convinced about it, and at the same time living peacefully with people who follow or believe in other religions are not contradictory to each other. The human mind has enormous capacity, including peaceful coexistence with people who believe differently.

Allow me to cite my own example. I believe in one Reality in one religion, and I can say that I have love for everyone. I believe in Jesus Christ’s call to love one’s enemies. If you operate on my heart, you will find there is no hate inside for anyone, only love for everyone.

When the Prophet of Islam was in Madinah, a funeral procession of a Jew passed by. The Prophet was seated at that time. On seeing the procession, he stood up in respect. One of his companions said to him that the deceased was a Jew, not a Muslim. And the Prophet responded,

“Was he not a human being?”

Every human being has equal status in his or her capacity of being human. There’s no difference whatsoever.

Can you please say a prayer to unite us all?

I’ll recite a prayer of the Prophet. He used to pray thus:

Allahumma antas-salam wa minkas-salam ilayka yarjius salam hayyana rabbana bis-salam wa adkhilna daraka daras-salam tabarakta rabbana wa talaita ya dhal jalalae wal ikram

‘O God, You are peace, peace comes from You, peace returns to You. O God, bless us to live in peace with all. O God, grant us entry into Your Home of Peace. O God, You are great, glory be to You!’